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denis j. o'malley / staff photo
Lakeland High School senior Zakk Agentowicz, 17, holds a sign in support of a substitute teacher who did not receive one of two permanent positions filled at Monday night's Lakeland School Board meeting as he and senior class president, Matt Morell, march with classmates Tuesday.

About 200 Lakeland High School students protesting the school board's decision Monday night to pass over a popular substitute teacher for a permanent position. Staff Photo by Denis O'Malley

About 200 Lakeland High School students took a page out of their history textbook's chapter on civil disobedience Tuesday morning, protesting the school board's decision Monday night to pass over a popular substitute teacher for a permanent position.

"He's our favorite teacher in the school," said Dakota Lawler, a senior at Lakeland and one of the students who helped rally the group Tuesday morning.

At 7:45 Tuesday morning, Dakota and about 200 of his classmates walked out of school, gathered on the football field and passed around a petition. They signed their names to document their opposition to the school board's decision not to hire Joseph Lemoncelli, a long-term substitute history teacher, for one of two open teacher positions on Monday night's board meeting agenda.

The student protest took shape shortly after the board voted to hire Christine Hauenstein as a secondary social studies teacher at a salary of $44,816 a year and Ashley Machiesky as a science teacher at a salary of $40,088 a year.

Board President Mary Retzbach would not explain why Mr. Lemoncelli was not hired as it is a personnel issue. She also said the board's decision is final and will not be revisited, despite the protest.

"The board always has the students' best interests at heart and appreciates their love for Mr. Lemoncelli but we do stand behind our decision," she said.

Though she appreciated that the students were "orderly" and "respectful," Superintendent Margaret Billings-Jones, Ed.D., said the focus will remain on academics, regardless of the teachers appointed.

"We are going to respect (the students') rights, but they have to respect our policies," she said in a phone interview Tuesday. "I respect their rights to express themselves, but we also have to continue the educational process during the day."

The Keystone Exams, which were scheduled to start Tuesday, will begin today, she said, noting that high absenteeism was factored into the decision to postpone the start.

Following the early-morning protest, the school day continued as usual, she added.

"They expressed themselves maturely and they returned to the building when they were asked to return," she said of students, noting that the building was under control at all times.

Popular as he is, the students expected Mr. Lemoncelli to be appointed to one of the open positions.

"He's there for us through everything," Dakota said of Mr. Lemoncelli's omnipresence at school events, from chaperoning the annual prom to cheering on its sports teams. "He's like our family."

So, Matt Morell, 18, Lakeland's senior class president, took to Facebook to fill in his classmates on what he saw as an injustice.

"Word of mouth got around about what happened at the board meeting," and before long, the plan was to protest the decision.

"We were expecting two or three dozen (participants), max'," Matt said.

But on Tuesday morning, Matt and Dakota watched as hundreds of their classmates marched to the football field to make their feelings known.

Looming consequences eventually won out - Dakota said the school's administration made it clear that "the longer they stayed out, the more serious the consequences."

And they did return to class, but not before making certain their voices were heard. Some students carried handwritten signs showing their support for Mr. Lemoncelli. About an hour into its protest, the group marched around the school building to Mr. Lemoncelli's classroom window.

There, pressed against the window, they chanted at the top of their lungs for their teacher, until principal Thomas Kameroski made the students aware that the class inside was in the middle of a test.

Before moving to the school's front walk and eventually heading inside, the students listened as their class president boiled the situation down to school pride.

"No matter what happens in this school, it doesn't matter what teachers we get ... or which ones we don't have - what matters is who you've gone through high school with," he said. "Nothing touches Lakeland."

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